Numerical simulation of two-stage combustion in SI engine with prechamber

Burning lean mixture in spark ignition (SI) engine leads to decrease in temperature of combustion process and is one of the methods of limiting nitric oxide emission and increasing the engine efficiency. The two-stage combustion system of stratified mixture (engine with prechamber) can be an effective method of lean mixture combustion. The paper presents the results of three-dimensional modeling of fuel mixture preparation and combustion in SI engine with sectional combustion chamber powered by liquefied fuel. Three dimensional modeling was performed in KIVA-3V code. The modeling results were compared with results obtained from the analysis of experimental measurements of two-stage combustion test engine operating at the Institute of Internal Combustion Engines and Control Engineering (Czestochowa University of Technology). The performed simulations of the combustion process provided data concerning the spatial and temporal distributions of turbulent kinetic energy, pressure, temperature and nitric oxides concentration in the combustion chambers of the engine. The engine model with two-stage combustion system properly represents the real processes which occur in the combustion chambers of the test engine. Pressure and temperature courses in function of CA obtained from the experiment and modeling were in good qualitative and quantitative consistence. Comparison of modeled and measured nitric oxide emissions revealed relatively significant discrepancies. In case of lambda = 1.4, the measured values of NOx concentration were 1.75 times higher than the modeled values. In case of lambda = 2.0, the modeled and measured values were close to each other and were within the range of measurement error. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.